Considering Monday? Enjoy A Different Kind of "Song & Dance"

BROADSIDE #1

News from the Orlando Skolarlee Review!

In an openly closed meeting, members of the Orlando Skolarlee Review previewed some of their most strikingly striking case studies to date!  Here is the minutia of the meeting as overseen by Jimmie Cracked Corn and fellows.

Commentary by JCC unless otherwise noted.

Greyhawk Stonefist Research.

Note an advertisement (left) that I have been studying for the past 2 years.  It's an old one from a Pleasure Faire.  Did I ever tell you that I never attended it?  But I would have liked to.  I would have been the guy on the balcony overlooking the courtyard, of course, but that is neither here nor there, now or then.  I just like those sort of Faires, of course.  Do you like Faires?  Please tell me and maybe I'll pen an article or fifteen on them!

But back to my latest discovery!  Of course you can tell me if it is a discovery or not, but I sure think it is.  I really love discovering things, you know.  Don't you?  I believe it relates to curiosity the more I think about it.  Curious thing curiosity.  Don't you think so?

Now for the meat.  I just knew that my continuing research might pay off.  Note the upper left shield and its heraldry.  Seem familiar to you?    Take your time, let it sink in; I know I had to as I'm not really a Greyhawk fan, though at times I believe I could be if I tried hard enough, I'm just not sure, you know? This shield just bothered me.  Of course I think I mean not in a bad way kinda bothered, but in a good way.  You know what I mean, right?  Well, I came to the conclusion that this shield, this very shield, may be the start of the inspirational chain that induced Gary Gygax to create Stonefist (please note comparative illustration, above right).  There are two shields and two hands, you see.  What do you think?  Am I onto something?  The research continues as we try to find attendees from that faire and see if they can recollect noting a person of Gary's general description in attendance.  Stay tuned!

Black Oil Advertisement Linked to Keoghtom's Ointment!

In our endeavor to uncover the facts we are pursuing an anonymous tip that Gary Gygax was indeed influenced to create the magical concoction "Keoghtom's Ointment" from this very information.  Research has been slow going as Hamilton is such a common name, and thus locating the family and their sales records for the Midwest region has been fruitless to date.  Note that the prime factor here is not so much verifying that fact, but in extrapolating the easily understood matter contained in the phrase, "Healing Liniment."  Though a poser, we will provide updates as breaking suppositions occur!

ORIGINAL AFTERWORD

EGG's Afterword in D&D's Volume #3 Reinterpreted in Light of Present Day Facts! Source:  OPI News Wire.

According to the Orlando Skolarlee Review they have broken the "code" in EGG's afterword to D&D (1974) and have reinterpreted this in light of present day realities.

EGG's TRUE THOUGHTS From the Broken Code...

"There are no areas which have been glossed in these rules.  We have included all the essentials and no trimming is needed by you or your players.  We have provided more than an ample framework and no building is necessary for you to have fun.  In this light, we urge you to go to our forums, blogs and other fora where you can be guided in what to do next, as everything herein is fantastically confusing and the best way to understand it all is just to ask us or folks at these official sites.  Don't just make things up, don't make adventures, ask us first as we have everything you'll ever need!  We don't mind answering your questions and love doing all of your imagining for you!  Write us and tell about your experiences and opinions as we could always use another laugh on the way to the bank!"

NEWS UPDATE:  Due to this revelation the Orlando Skolarlee Review and its subsidiaries ordered the immediate increase in published material, thus doubling and even tripling their FRP adventure titles for the upcoming months.  When asked about this, one member was heard to exclaim, "Eureka!"

Apology Demanded By Irate Earthling Regarding Eldritch Enterprise News!  From OPI News Wire.

A recent email exchange occurred between Jimmie Cracked Corn and the Adjutant General, U-Duhm Feck, who administers to flea-bitten elders near the Tesherite community of Drakensfuht, sometimes recorded (according to Baron Munchausen) as being located in either ancient day Mesopotamia, or in the Bronx.  The transcript of that exchange follows:

U-DF:  Your negative slant on this news was less than hospitable to my ears and my elders here have now contracted a case of the hives because of it!  I demand an apology for all elders worldwide.  Despicable,  I say!  Utterly despicable!

JCC:  Yes, but...

U-DF:  Oh.  Don't start that outmoded rhetoric with me, Mr. "I Don't Care!"  An apology is an apology!  A "yes" will do.  Keep your But, for now...

JCC:  Yes, but...

U-DF:  You seem to have a dualistic nature, eh?

JCC:  Yes, but...

The remaining transcript was edited by OPI to extract repetitions...  END

Orlando Skolarlee Review's Brew of Choice?

Of course it's "Old Judge" Irradiated Coffee!  What a silly question!  When all of us get together in our secret meetings (otherwise known then as the O.S.S. meetings of choice; see member patch below), we can't stop drinking it!  I am thinking of having something similar to this concocted and made available for sale (look to my "What I am Selling/What I am Drinking" menu when it's available).  The name will  change to "Old Judgmental," though!  I like the name, don't you? -- JCC

OSS MEMBER PATCH AND STIR STICK

More Ground-Breaking Research Ahead:  Werebear, Irish Deer and Gorgon Origins!

Triumphant news for our quarter!  We'll let the pictures speak for themselves! -- JCC

WEREBEAR IN UNCHANGED FORM (very tricky...)

Inspiration for the Irish Deer?

PROTOTYPICAL GORGON?

THE ORLANDO SKOLARLEE REVIEW'S MEETING CONCLUDED WITH A FULL SCREEN VIEWING OF Andy Hardy's Double Life AND WITH THEIR MEMBERS CHANTING A FAVORITE CLUB SONG (APPENDED HEREAFTER).

Some Updates and an Upcoming Interview

I have lots on my schedule and have been finding it difficult to blog; and though I have a plethora of articles finished and unedited or in various other stages, my writing and design have been taking precedence these days.  I hope some other authors can stand in for me, but if not I will post when I can.

Part of the down time will be spent affording time for an interview I recently agreed to do; and this will no doubt eat up a couple or three days while it is started and concluded.  The interview will be posted at another blog and I will link to it from here.  I am readying for it by rereading the "Sardonic Humor of Ambrose Bierce..." :)

In the meantime I will be posting a new spell I contrived, this towards the end of the week, Andy "Atom" Taylor is doing some art for three projects and possibly more (as of 3 days ago) one of which I will post as soon as Andy has them all finished.  The writing on the Machine Level continues and Black Blade Publishing and I have been discussing the cover art and artist for the project.  And the "Give Thanks Even Though You May Not Have Done So In Between-DAY" is upcoming and the "Mrs." and I are celebrating by having lasagna shaped as a turkey (kidding), but we are having lasagna.  I wish you all well in between and be looking for more down the road.

Gertrude Barrows Bennett (pseudonym: Francis Stevens)

"Gertrude Barrows Bennett (1883–1948) was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States, publishing her stories under the pseudonym Francis Stevens. Bennett wrote a number of highly acclaimed fantasies between 1917 and 1923 and has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy." Among her most famous books are Claimed (which H. P. Lovecraft called "One of the strangest and most compelling science fantasy novels you will ever read") and the lost world novel The Citadel of Fear. Bennett also wrote an early dystopian novel, The Heads of Cerberus (1919). ...

"Bennett wrote her first short story at age 17, a science fiction story titled "The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar." She mailed the story to Argosy, then one of the top pulp magazines. The story was accepted and published in the March 1904 issue. ...

"Once Bennett began to take care of her mother, she decided to return to fiction writing as a means of supporting her family. The first story she completed after her return to writing was the novella "The Nightmare," which appeared in All-Story Weekly in 1917. The story is set on an island separated from the rest of the world, on which evolution has taken a different course. "The Nightmare" resembles Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Land That Time Forgot, itself published a year later. ...

"Bennett has been credited as having "the best claim at creating the new genre of dark fantasy." As such, Bennett's writings influenced both H. P. Lovecraft and A. Merritt, both of whom "emulated Bennett's earlier style and themes." As for Merritt, for several decades critics and readers believed "Francis Stevens" was a pseudonym of his. This rumor only ended with the 1952 reprinting of Citadel of Fear, which featured a biographical introduction of Bennett by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach. ...

"One of Bennett's most famous novels was Claimed (Argosy, 1920; reprinted 1966 and 2004), in which a supernatural artifact summons an ancient and powerful god to 20th century New Jersey. Lovecraft called the novel, "One of the strangest and most compelling science fantasy novels you will every read"). ...

"Critic Sam Moskowitz said she was the "greatest woman writer of science fiction in the period between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and C.L. Moore.""

Source:  WIKI Article LINK.

LINK to short stories compilation at Amazon.

On the Etymological Sources in Some of EGG's Fictional Names

In recent discussion with David Witts (in my estimation one of the, if not the only, true researchers and scholars of Dungeons & Dragons and related TSR game historians active today) and Allan Grohe (himself a Greyhawk enthusiast with many years of accumulated knowledge on the subject) the topic turned towards EGG's battle report published in Wargamer's Newsletter #116, "THE BATTLE OF THE BROWN HILLS."  This was a Chainmail/Fantasy Supplement battle played by LGTSA members, myself included, in EGG's basement on our constantly maintained 6' x 10' sand table (of which many of those battles, not only Chainmail but also Tractics and others I discuss in depth in my upcoming memoirs; and as played there and as later played at Don Kaye's garage where the table was eventually transferred to in order to make room for EGG's shoe repair equipment).

In going over the text I noted at least 3 interesting names that Gary had chosen, one of which only, out of courtesy to the ongoing research being done, will I post here.

One side has a giant leader named Verdurmir, which I recognized right off, and I actually laughed at the joke-reference EGG was using here:

Etymology of "verdur-" is simply a foreshortened "verdure" meaning "green" or lush.

"-mir" has Germanic and many other cognates, but overall may be translated as "leader," "lord,"  or grosse (large) or "big," etc.

So we have a giant named Verdurmir whose name means:  "Big & Green Leader," or a variation of such.

This is where I laughed at the exposed matter, as the most popular giant in media during those days was of course the Jolly Green Giant.

Once again exposing Gary's proclivity (and creativity) in adapting what was around him into whatever matter he was treating with at the time.  It also exposes his tounge-in-cheek manner and disguised punning for which he was famous.

Dave Arneson's Love Affair With Japanese Monster Movies

From My Gathering Memoirs.  ©2010. Robert J. Kuntz

My friend David L. Arneson moved to Lake Geneva to work for TSR in 1976. He originally roomed at the same complex as my brother, Terry Kuntz (who also worked for TSR as the first manager of the DUNGEON Hobby Shop).  David soon relocated to an apartment on Wisconsin Street .

As I lived on Madison & Wisconsin and EGG still lived on Center & Wisconsin, I would often stop into David's on my way to Gary's house (note map, below).

This was often on weekends, and invariably if I didn't find Dave reading or writing, I'd find him watching his favorite Japanese monster movies.  He usually had a big bowl of popcorn and was just laughing like a kid at these things; and in retrospect they were so  bad they were funny.  Here are some photos and links to the movies that made the designer of so many historical and fantastic games chuckle.

ONE OF DAVE"S FAVORITES, GAMERA THE "ATOMIC TURTLE"

Links @ Wikipedia/Other:

1  2  3  4  5  6 

"The Necromancer" aka "The Tale of the Black Forest"

 By Ludwig Flammenberg (pesudonym of Carl Friedrich Kahlert)

Here's a mixed genre fantasy tale way ahead of its time as published in 1794.  There was some confusion about the author, his pseudonym and the translator, all explained in the Wiki article.

From the Amazon.com description:  "'The hurricane was howling, the hailstones beating against windows, the hoarse croaking of the raven bidding adieu to autumn, and the weather-cock's dismal creaking joined with the mournful dirge of the solitary owl...'"

"The Necromancer consists of a series of interconnected stories, all centering on the enigmatic figure of Volkert the Necromancer. Filled with murder, ghosts, and dark magic, and featuring a delirious and dizzying plot that almost defies comprehension, The Necromancer is one of the strangest horror novels ever written.

"One of the earliest Gothic bestsellers, The Necromancer was first published in 1794, and after more than two centuries still retains the power to thrill and fascinate readers. This edition includes a new preface which reveals for the first time ever the true identity of The Necromancer's author, as well as an original critical essay by Jeffrey Cass, analysing the novel from a modern queer theory standpoint. The complete text of three contemporary reviews and helpful annotations are also included to further enhance this edition."

Amazon Link

Wiki Article Link

"Have Your Cake and Be It Too"

LINK

Robert McKee Interview: On Storytelling

Robert McKee is well known as a screenwriting guru, but his emphasis is on storytelling techniques that are applicable to all forms of writing including those used in the RPG industry.

"Robert McKee, born 1941, is a creative writing instructor who is widely known for his popular "Story Seminar", which he developed when he was a professor at the University of Southern California. McKee is the author of a "screenwriters' bible" called Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. Many of Hollywood's active screenwriters claim him as an inspiration. Rather than simply handling "mechanical" aspects of fiction technique such as plot or dialogue taken individually, McKee examines the narrative structure of a work and what makes the story compelling or not. This could work equally as well as an analysis of any other genre or form of narrative, whether in screenplay or any other form, and could also encompass nonfiction works as long as they attempt to "tell a story"."

Source:  Wiki Article LINK.

The following interview is 61 minutes in length.

Clark Ashton Smith Part 1: Art & Cover Art Inspired By His Stories

THE EMPEROR OF DREAMS

"Clark Ashton Smith (13 January 1893 – 14 August 1961) was an American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mostly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales."

Source:  Wiki Article LINK.

Further Reading, Links 1-4:

1  2  3  4

Updated From Question in Discussion: